Track instrument.



C. W. DUNHAM.

TRACK INSTRUMENT.

APPLICATIQN FILED DEC. x4. 1916.

Patented July 30, 1918.

lll/ll l/l/lll/ wlTNEssEs 522m INVENTOR UNITED strnfris.PATE1.\,TElf` QEEIGE CHABLEsW. DUNHAmoF EnGEwooD BOROUGH', .ENNsYIiVANIAgnssIGNon To THE UNION SWITCH ,a SIGNAL .coMrANY or swxssvALE, rENNsYLvANIA, n .coarozaa-4 TION .0F PIIEINNSYLVANIA..`

T 0 all whom t may Concern.'

Be it known that 1,.,CHARLES W.DNHA1vr,.-

a citizen of the-United States, residing .at

Edgewood Borough-,ein the; county of Alleglieny and State of Pennsylvania, 'have ...in-,- f

vented certain'new andy useful Improvements in Track Instruments,'ofwhich `the following `is a specification.

This vinvention relates to 0track instruprovision of a .reliable and 4efficient instrument adapted to: be operated by the vertical f motlon of a rail or track .Whcna car or train is passing thereover.

Another object lof.this vinvention is the provision of a .track instrument whichis self-alining with respect to a track to. insure the proper operation thereof irrespective of thel position of the track.'l

Other obj ects ofthe inventionwill appear I.

from a consideration of the following detailed 'description'taken` in connection with the -accompanyingdrawings forming `a part of thisfrspecification,I with the understanding, however,A that. the-l embodimentfillustrated, though practical, is by no means the only embodiment Which the invention =may assume, whereforel the invention is not .coniined to any strict conformity with the showing of theudra-wings', but may be changed and modified. in various particulars, within the scope of the appended claims.-

InV the drawings, Figure l is a view show-- intr FigA is 'a sectional perspective view taken on the line IV-IV of Fig. -1 and looking in the direction of the arrows.

In all vof the views, except Figl, the casing for theinstrument is shown in section.

Similar reference characters designate similar` parts throughout the several views.

Referring to the drawings in detail, the instrument yis shown in this instance partially inclosed in a rectangular casing C formed of suitable material by means oflwhich the instrument is protected against the elements. The casing is preferably formed of two separab1el hinged `seetiona 10 Iamil 1.1,` each of i TRACK INSTRUMENT.

l i Specification of Letterslatent.

which is substantially triangular. in crosssection for a purpose which will bec'ome. ap.-V

y Vlatenten .July 3o,l 1918.1l Application ined December 14, 1916. serial No. 136,95g`l parent hereinafter. p The. section -10 has its front .side f lwall provided with sa .horizontal slotlQ at .the ends ot whichare outwardly projectinglugs 13'. l'llheselugsxcover the endsiotxtheslot andare concavedon their innersurfaces to form-'bearings fora pintle* l 14. Thepintlelis retained in these bearings: ments,..andI has for its primary object. the

attached to: theinner walllofsthebox by suitablelmeans not shown inthe drawing.

Fulcrumedonthe .pintle .14; are two `operatconfronting sides formed with sleeve bearings 15 which receivethe pintle 14f andfwhichf Vlng arms=A and A, the arms having their:

coperate-with the lugs 13 toprovidemeans for retaining the operating armssin theirproper.v positions at all times.

their 'medial portions, each of the arms havinga portion a disposed iwithin the'casing The arms-A f and A". are pivoted .upon the pintle 14 at C and aportionJJ arranged exteriorlyofithel x casing.. The portion a of each arm isV pro-1 ate portion'asrshown at 17 in Figf.-;1. The

. vided with a downwardly: curved intermedir portions?) ofthe arms A and Af .are'inC-lined downwardly and; f. upwardly, respectively from theirpivotedendstoward theirffree ends, tliefrec endsof the portions term1nat,= ing in inwardly bent.liooks 18. Theffarmf.

'A isbiasedto' move'. in aclockwise direction,

while the armi A isl biased-.inra ,counterclockwise direction, I having obtained Vthis biasingv action, in this 'inst-ance, bymeans of weights, the portion .a of arm 1A lbeing enlarged .toxtormr a wei-ghtg19, while portion b of arm- A is formed with iawidened-portion adjacent its hook 18 which constitutesA a weight 19a.

Mounted onthe 4enlarged yend -16' of armi,- A are two contact fingers 20,520, one belng on topand one. on Vthe bottom of the arm,

as shown in Fig-:3. These fingers areelec-l trically connectedrespectively with terminal post 21an`d 21a arrangedupon'anlinsu-. lating block Q3 secured to ythe inner-side vofthecasing C." TheingersfQQ-QO.areformed upper side of thearm A. When the arms-.

A,/A.r occupy theirfnormal .relativ e' pQSi-tol-1s,`

which are the positions wherein they are shown in the drawing, the stud 242 operates to close contact 20--20, but when either arm is swung in oppositionto its biasing vforce the stud permits this contact to open.

Although I have described a 'specific manner of controlling a circuit by means of the arms, I Wish it to be clearly understood that any means may be used without departing from the spirit of the invention.

As here shown, the instrument is arranged in the track ballast on the outer side of a track rail R, the arms A and A being positioned transversely with respect to the rail and of suiiicient length to prevent the instrument from interfering with passing trains.

The hooked ends 18 of arms A, A coact with an angle bar B secured to the web portion of the rail R. The hooks 1S are adapted to engage the angle bar upon opposite sides thereof under the biasing action of the weights 19 and 19a, whereby the movements of the arms A and A are controlled by thev rail R. When the rail is at rest, the arms are maintained in their normal positions, thus causing the contact fingers 20, 20, to be closed, as has been described. However, when the rail is moved vertically, say in upward direction, by the passing of a train thereover, arm A is swung in clockwise direction against the action of the weight 19a. Meanwhile, arm A is permitted to swing also in clockwise directionunder the biasing action of the weight 19, but this movement is relatively slow compared to the movement of arm A owing to the time required to overcome the inertia of the arm A when the rail is suddenly moved upwardly and for a further reason explained hereinafter. It will therefore be seen that since arms A and A are spread apart, the stud 24: will disengage the fingers 20, 20 to permit the opening of the latter. It is to be understood, that should the rail move downwardly, a reverse action will occur from that just described, which will result in the counter clockwise movements of arms A and A, arm A moving in advance of arm A, whereby the stud 24 will disengage the fmgers as in the first operation. Consequently, the instrument is responsive for contact operation to both upward or downward movement of the rail. Upon the returning of the rail to its normal position, after a train has passed, the arms will be caused to return to their normal positions under the action of the weights 19 and 19a, as will be understood. In the event the rail does not return to the exact position occupied previous to the passing of a train, it will be evident that the arms will automatically assume their normal relative positions irrespective of the position of the rail so that contact r 20--20 will be closed.

It is desirable, however, to retard the Vreturnmovement of the arms so as to maintain the contact fingers in open position for an extended period of time to effectively actuate devices, such as signals or the like.

In this embodiment of my invention, I have provided means for acconipliShingV this function, which means comprises a pair of spaced disks D and D interposed between the arms A and A and mounted to rotate on a rod 25. This rod 25 is arranged transversely within the casing 0 and owing to the curved portions 17 of arms A and A it does not interfere with separation of these arms to open the Contact 20-20. Intersect' ing the rod 25k at right angles and extending through the same isY another rod 26 upon the upper end of which is `iournaled a wheel WV. This wheel `W is arranged above the disks D and D and its under surface is provided with a flat ring 27 'formed of The weight of spectively, the teeth E being reversely disc posed with relation to the teeth E. Pivotedly mounted within recesses H, I-I, formed in the confronting sides of the arms A and A are pawls T and T, respectively, which are reversely disposed -so as to engage with the teeth E and E, respectively. The teeth of disk D and pawl T ofarm A are so arranged as to permit freemovement of the arm A irrespective of its disk when the portion a of that arm is moving upwardly but to automatically lock the arm with theV corresponding disk when moving downwardly. The teeth E and pawl T being arranged just the reverse, it is apparent that arm A will only be locked to its disk D when the portion a thereof is moved upwardly. I

In operation, when the rail R is moved vertically, say, in an upward direction, arm A is rocked upon its pivot in clockwise di` rection to cause its portion a to move downwardly and freely over the toothed surface of the adjacent disk D. Arm A, however, does not immediately follow the movement of the rail, but is retarded by virtue of the fact that it must turn the disks D and D and the wheel VV. Consequently, .the portions a of arms A and A are now separated, so that stud 24 permits contact fingers 20, 20 to open. These relative positions of the arms A and A, however, are not permanent, that is. assuming the rail R is-maintained in an elevated position by the presence of a train adjacent thereto, the disk D being` movable, the arm A when locked thereto will rotate the disk and consequently the wheel lV and disk D under theaction of weight 19, thereby permitting this arm to move to alined or normal position with relation. to arm A to cause the closing of the fingers Q0, 20, as has been' described. This movement, however, is relatively slow as it is necessary that the biasingv actionot the weight overcome the resistance offered by the rotation ot' the disk and wheel, thereby causing retarded movement of the arm A to the alined position to delay the closing oli' the circuit. v normal position after the same has been relievedV of its load, arm A will immediately be i construction, it will be seen that when a track equipped with such instrument is traversed by a tram, the verticalI motion ot the track will cause a separation of the arms A and A to effectively disrupt the circuit,

andrthat such separation ot' the arms will be maintained during the time of passage of the train, although it is understood that the track may return to its normal position between the trucks of each car and between cars. Such returnjmovement of the track, however, will not permitor cause a return of the arms to their normal relative positions, as the disksvand wheel prevent such action as has been described.- It will thus be seen that my track instrument is effectively operated .by the vertical motion of a track to properly perform the function for which it is intended.

From the foregoing description, .taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawy ings, it is apparent that I have provided a lrack instrument responsive for contact operation to vertical movement of the rail and that such operation in one direction is automatically delayed. AFurthermore,V itwill be noted that the track instrument is so connected to-a rail as to allow for lateral and vertical displacement of the rail without affecting, in any manner, the operation of the instrument.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. In a track instrument, two fulcrumed members arranged adjacent a track and biased to engaging position therewith to hen` the rail returns to itsk cause movement of one ofthe members when the` track is depressedv and of the other member when the track is raisedv by the, passing of atrain, means fork controllingl the return movement of each ot' said members independently of said track, and a contact controlled by said members.

2. In combination with al track, an instrument comprising` pivoted; arms biased toward each other and toengaging position with said track to cause movement of both of said arms independently of each other when said track is raised or depressed, mea-ns for simultaneously controlling the movement of said arms independently of said track when the latter is returning to its normal position, and a contact controlled by said arms.

3. A track instrument comprising twov dependent movements in opposite directions.

when said track is raised and depressed, means for delaying the. movement of said arms when the track is returning to its normal position, and a contact controlled by said arms.

5. A track instrument comprising a support mounted independently of the track rails, two members pivotally lmounted-in said support and biased to swing in opposite directions, one of said members being swung in opposition to its bias by upward movement of a track rail and the'other member being swung in opposition to its bias by downward movement of the track rail, and a contact controlledl by relative movements of said members.

6. A track instrument comprising asupport mounted independently of the track rails, two members pivotally mounted in i said support and biased to swing ,in `opposite directions, one ot said members being swung in opposition to its bias by upward movement of a track rail and the other member being swung in opposition to its bias by downward movement of the -track rails, means for rletarding the return movement of each member in response to its biasing force, and a contact controlled by relative movements of said members.

` 7. A track instrument comprising pivoted members biased to a track to move in opposite directions, when said track is moved vertically, rotatable elements interposed between said members, ratcliets carried by each of the members and engageable with said elements, means connecting said elements for synchronizing the movements of said elements, and a contact controlled by said arms.

S. A track instrument comprising two members mounted for relative movements and biased in opposite directions, one of said members being n'iovable against its biasing force by upward movement of a rail and the other member being movable against its biasing force by downward movement ot the rail, two rotatable disks one tor each member, means tor clutching each member to the corresponding disk to cause rotation of the disk during movement oi? the member in response to its biasing force but for permitting movement of the member in the other direction without causing rotation of the disk, means for impeding the rotation ot' each disk, and a contact controlled by relative movements of said members.

i). ln con'ibination with a track, an instrument comprising movable arms biased to given relative positions, means connecting said arms and track for moving said armsl away from said biased position when said track is moved vertically, means for controlling the movement of either of the arms independently of the track depending upon which direction the track is moved, and a contact controlled by said arms.

10. A track instrument comprising a support mounted independently of the track rails, two members pivotally mounted in said support and biased to swing in opposite directions, said members being held in normal. relative positions by a track rail and swung in opposite directions in opposition f to their biasing forces by vertical movements or" said rail, and a contact controlled by said members and arranged to assume one functional condition or another according as said members do or do not occupy their normal relative positions.

l1. A track instrument comprising two movable members biased in opposite directions and held in normal relative positions by a track rail when the rail is at rest, each member being movable in opposition to its bias by movement of the track rail, means lor retarding the movement of each member in response to its bias, and a contact controlled jointly by said members and arranged to assume one condition or another according as said members do or do not 0ccupy their said normal'relative positions.

l2. A track instrument comprising two movable members biased in opposite directions each of which is moved in opposition to its bias by a track rail, means for retarding the movement of each member in response to its bias, and a contact controlled jointly by said members.

18. A track instrument comprising two movable members biased in opposite directions and each moved in opposition to its bias by a track rail, two rotatable disks one for each member, means interposed between each member and the corresponding disk for rotating the disk when the member moves in response to its bias but not when the member moves in the other direction, means for retarding the rotation of said disks, and a contact controlled jointly by said members.

14; A track instrument comprising two movable members biased in opposite direc tions and each moved in opposition to its bias by a track rail, two rotatable disks one for each member, means interposed between` each member and the corresponding disk for rotating the disk when the member moves in response to its bias but not when the member moves in the other direction, a wheel resting on said disks whereby rotation of either disk causes rotation of said wheel and the other disk, and a contact controlled jointly by said two members.

15. A track instrument comprising two operating members each pivotally mounted intermediate its ends, said members being biased to swing in opposite directions around the pivotal points, a track member located between said operating members on one side of Said pivotal points whereby one member or the other is swung in opposition to its bias according as the rail rises or falls, means associated with said operating members on the other side of the pivotal points thereof for retarding the swing of each member in response to its bias, and a contact controlled jointly by said members.

In testimony whereof I aiiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

CHARLES W. DUNHAM.

Witnesses:

A. HERMAN WEGNER, A. C. Nor/rn.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

